Midtown Lunch

Still worth it for $10? I say yes.

A few weeks ago I did a post detailing how, despite all the hype and PR, none of the new school vendors are really making any money. Need proof? Well, here it is. After an insane week that included winning the Rookie of the Year Vendy Award, followed by countless media appearances (including this one on CNBC), the Schnitzel & Things Truck has some very sad news to report. From the owner Oleg:

This is a letter to all of our loyal fans and customers. We are raising the prices of our schnitzel platters and sandwiches by $1. We understand how important our customers are to us, and feel that you deserve an explanation as to why this is necessary. Our main goal is to consistently provide the best quality product, and with the increased demand, we’ve had to incur some new expenses, such as a full commercial kitchen as well as new staff. Our menu is diverse and includes a wide variety of options, which are prepared fresh daily, and that requires a large amount of preparation, even down to the condiments we serve. Since we did hire new staff, it is our personal belief that they deserve a living wage, which in the restaurant business is rarely seen.

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It looks like vendor wars don’t just happen during the week.  Over the weekend a little competition popped up for Kwik Meal on 45th Street and 6th Ave., and Lunch’er “Vernon” was kind enough to send us this photo.  Check out the sign!  “Why Pay More Money?  Fahima Halal Food much better than Kwik Meal.” Ouch.  But you know what the biggest kick in the balls is for Muhammed Rahman, the owner of the Kwik Meal carts?  Fahima Halal is owned and run by his brother!  Yup, it’s the same cart that popped up a few months ago on 45th and 5th, before moving to 9th Ave. and 42nd.

Muhammed doesn’t work on the weekends, so he wasn’t at the cart to confront his brother- but he was called and told by his workers what was going on.  Family feuds are nothing new in the world of street meat, but parking next to your brother and undercutting his prices is pretty ballsy- especially when your brother has one of the most popular street meat operations in the city.  Not sure if Fahima plans on staying on 45th during the week, or moving back to their normal spot on 42nd and 9th.  I guess we’ll find out today.

Related:
Kwik Meal Kin Opens New Cart, Touches off Feud Over 45th & 5th
Biryani Cart Gets New Competition From the Strangest Place

The Line For 45 Cent Slices at Famous Ray’s. Photo by Food in Mouth

• Thai 51 has some great lunch specials… [Miss Menu]
• …and they’re even better when your work is paying! [Chubby Chinese Girl]
• Even if you don’t like lobster, you might like the Xie Xie lobster roll [Always Eating]
• The Ritz Carlton does a “cupcake tea” [Cupcakes Take the Cake]
• Vendy Award nominees dish about their favorite eats (Schnitzel Truck loves Korean food!) [Always Hungry NY]
• The “peach” has officially arrived in Midtown [Eater]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” posts about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

I’ve walked by Dalton’s Bar and Grill plenty of times and never thought about going in. At first glance, there are too many flat screens behind the bar, the food is overpriced and the crowd leans towards the corporate side. It feels out of place for this stretch of 9th Avenue that includes the sordid Port 41, rowdy Rudy’s, derelict Holland’s and raunchy Blue Ruin. However, on one night I wandered in to take advantage of their slightly later then average happy hour. It was then that I realized that this watering hole actually had something to offer.

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Apparently comedian Lisa Lampanelli isn’t a fan of the Famous Halal Guys Cart on 53rd and 6th.  From Grub Street’s “New York Diet” Column: “There’s a food cart by Sixth Avenue and 53rd Street and it always has twenty people in the line, so I say to my fiancé, “What the fuck is up with that place?” We ate there — some weird Middle Eastern thing. I think it’s beef, pork, chicken and yellow rice. I was like, “Not so much.” Then we tasted the guy next to him with no line and the guy with no line was better. See, it’s all bullshit! It’s all hype in New York!”  Nice.  I wonder if the cart with no line she went to was the one the SE corner?   Because that would be comedy!

Related:
Debunking the Myths of 53rd & 6th, the Most Famous Halal Intersection in New York City

I walked by Barros Lucco, the new Chilean sandwich shop opening on 52nd St. just East of 2nd Ave. (in the old 99 Miles to Philly space), and according to a guy inside they were getting their inspection today. That means they could be open as early as this weekend. Churrascos and chacareros for everyone!!!

Related:
Barros Luco is Bringing Chilean Sandwiches to Midtown East

Kolache Mama opened Wednesday on 45th btw. Mad+Vanderbilt, and I couldn’t help stopping by on opening day. Usually I like to give places time to settle in but I was too curious! What are these magical Czech pastries? How big are they? And how did they make their way to our planet? I couldn’t imagine them looking as weird in person as they do in the PR photo (which I never trust), but they do! As for size (which was my biggest question mark) they vary from type- but since they are all the same price, it will take a bit more investigation to figure out which are the best from a quantity standpoint. As for taste, the bread is similar to a doughy egg roll (not the Chinese kind) and I could imagine them tasting far better warm (both of mine were cold.) I’m sure all this will be worked out in time, but if you do go- I would recommend asking for whichever one just came out of the oven. (Or ask them to warm yours up.)

Close ups of the two I ate, plus early adopters weigh in- after the jump…

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